No rest for Ramos, Panganiban

Gilas Pilipinas Girls Naomi Panganiban and Gabbi Ramos are set for another tour of duty but this time for the senior team’s campaign in the William Jones Cup in Taipei.

Just back from leading the Gilas Girls’ promotion to Division A of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzhen, China, the duo will be packing their bags again to join the women’s squad in the six-nation tournament scheduled from 6 to 10 July.

“These players are available now. I know they can do more with what they have shown the whole country what they can do and they have talent,” Gilas Women head coach Pat Aquino said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum Tuesday.

“We’ll try to see how they will fit with the team and hopefully, we can get a good performance in the tournament.”

The Gilas Girls returned to Manila Tuesday morning after earning a Division A promotion following a 95-64 rout of Lebanon in the Division B final last Sunday to complete a tournament sweep.

Panganiban and Ramos have made a good impression in the tilt.

Panganiban led the Gilas Girls’ offense averaging 15.0 points per game while Ramos normed 11.3 rebounds.

Both players will link up with Gilas Women veterans Jack Animam, Afril Bernardino and Ella Fajardo in Chinese Taipei.

The Philippines, who will leave Friday, will play against Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei Blue and Chinese Taipei White.

Panganiban, who will be playing for San Diego State University this year, hopes to make an impact in her women’s squad debut.

“I’m very honored and blessed to have the coaching staff believe in me and Gabbi. It’s just another opportunity for me to get better and represent the country well,” Panganiban said.

“I just hope that we become successful.”

Ramos, on the other hand, relishes the opportunity to learn from the veterans.

“I plan to be a sponge and absorb all the information they give us and any advice for this crazy experience that we’re about to work on, especially with Ate Jack and Ate Afril for the position that I play,” said Ramos, who currently plays for Clovis East High School in California.

“I just want to learn from them as much as I can.”

The Filipinas look to improve from last year’s Jones Cup campaign where it finished fifth with a 1-4 win-loss record.